In philosophy, essence is the attribute or set of attributes that make ... what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. Essence is contrasted with accident: a property that the entity ... has contingently, without which the substance can still retain its identity. The concept originates with Aristotle, who used the Greek expression ... literally 'the what it was to be', or sometimes the shorter ... 'the what it is' for the same idea. This phrase presented such difficulties for his Latin translators that they coined the word essentia (English "essence") to represent the whole expression.

essence is the attribute or set... Essence is contrasted with accident... The concept originates with Aristotle, who used the expression 'the what it was to be', or 'the what it is'... The phrase presented such difficulties for his Latin translators that they coined the word essentia(English "essence") to represent... Essence corresponods to the ousia's definition; essence is a real and physical aspect of the ousia (Aristotle, Metaphysics, I) - Wikipedia on Essence

Last edited by the fire elf on Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"Pragmatism begins with the idea that belief is that upon which one is willing to act." - Wikipedia

In "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" Peirce argued for pragmatism as summed up in that which he later called the pragmatic maxim: "Consider what effects, that might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object". - Wikipedia

“[T]he tangible fact at the root of all our thought-distinctions, however subtle, is that there is no one of them so fine as to consist in anything but a possible difference" - Wikipedia

"In order to form a more perfect union" means that the government was not perfect but that our founding fathers had a goal. - Wiki Answers

mayavin wrote:

For example, the ability of experts in any field to effortlessly analyze and remember complex problems within their field is a natural consequence of their formation of increasingly refined conceptual hierarchies.

The terms "a priori" and "a posteriori" are used in philosophy to distinguish two different types of knowledge, justification, or argument: a priori knowledge is known independently of experience, and a posteriori knowledge is proven through experience. Thus, they are primarily used as adjectives to modify the noun "knowledge", or taken to be compound nouns that refer to types of knowledge

Ancient Greek philosophers, describing and commenting on the uncontrolled anger, particularly toward slaves, in their society generally showed a hostile attitude towards anger. Galen and Seneca regarded anger as a kind of madness. They all rejected the spontaneous, uncontrolled fits of anger and agreed on both the possibility and value of controlling anger.

Aristotle on the other hand, ascribed some value to anger that has arisen from perceived injustice because it is useful for preventing injustice. Furthermore, the opposite of anger is a kind of insensibility, Aristotle stated.